Kingston man uses drone for videography

KINGSTON>> Being able to fly over anywhere to shoot video is what attracted lifelong Kingston resident Jeremy Jordan, 34, to purchase a consumer drone, also known as a multicopter.

An avid skateboarder and amateur videographer who works for UPS in the town of Ulster, Jordan said he first saw a man using a drone nearly a year ago at the Saugerties Skatepark.

He said after seeing that drone, he went to the web and found a small drone known as a DJI Phantom on New York-based photo retailer’s B&H’s website for approximately $500.

It is battery operated, and features four rotors each with helicopter blades.

He said by the time he added in a $150 gimbal — a device that steadies the $300 Go-Pro camera attached to the drone — and after buying $50 carbon fiber blades, he ended up with an approximately $1,000 tab.

The popularity of drones is exploding, he said.

“There are so many videos made with drones online,” he said. “One guy took this video of a volcano erupting, I don’t know how it didn’t get burnt by the lava.”

He said there is a bit of learning curve to become a drone operator.

“The software is called Naza Assistant it lets you calibrate everything to make it fly smooth,” he said. “I spent hours working on this and lot’s of time googling stuff.”

There are two drone-flying modes — a GPS mode that allows it to hover, and a mode that allows the person to pilot the drone with a remote control.

There is even software that allows you to view a live video feed from the drone to make it look like your actually flying in it.

Jordan said he avoided a wi-fi video system because it causes interference with the controller.

He said it really takes getting used to flying it smoothly, and there’s always the fear of crashing.

“Crashing is not too difficult,” he said. “I’ve heard stories of people losing frequency with the controller, and the drone going out of control and crashing.”

“I crashed it one time, into a wall,” he said.

Another scare came when he tried to fly off the walkway at the trestle in Rosendale, he said.

“I was flying it and the battery died,” he said. “The walkway is not that wide and I was scared it would bounce off the railing and it would be destroyed. Luckily I got it to land on the walkway.”

One thing he absolutely stays away from is water. “One time I tried flying it out over the Hudson and all I could think about is if this went down I would never get it back,” he said.

Jordan said he’s seen video of spectacular crashes that have destroyed $100,000 in equipment.

And there’s always the hazard from trees and power lines, he said.

But perhaps his biggest limit is battery life. He said batteries limit him to about 10 minutes of flying time. He said the batteries take approximately one hour to charge so he often carries four battery packs to give him 40 minutes of flight time.

“They’re working on batteries that last longer,” he said. “Some larger drones carry multiple battery packs.”

Another limit is the weather, which has limited his flight time.

Rain keeps him inside, and high winds can create control issues, he said.

He said he’s already flown his drone over Uptown Kingston and the Kingston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and shared his videos with kingstonhappenings.org. a local website that promotes events and businesses in Kingston.

And the reaction to his drone at the parade was overwhelming positive, he said.

“There were so many people looking up at it,” he said. “Only one women said I don’t like that thing at all.”

Jordan said he’s gotten numerous pitches from local businesses like BSP Lounge Uptown and the organizers of the Hooley on the Hudson to use the drone for aerial photography.

Jordan said he’s never gotten in trouble for flying the drone anywhere, but he did ground it after a police officer slowed down and stared at him while he was using it to film aerial footage in the Strand area of Kingston.

Many types, uses

Jordan said he’s seen videos of home built drones as large as 6 feet tall, ones with eight rotors and even ones large enough for a person to fly in it.

Some of the larger drones can carry up to 50 pounds, he said.

He said possible uses are countless, including for real estate and photography, the media industry and especially filmmakers.

“I saw NBC using them during the Olympics during the snowboarding events,” he said.

“I’ve even heard a police department is using them somewhere,” he said.

But, he said there are still many obstacles to using drones to deliver everything from Amazon, UPS and FedEx packages to pizza.

“I’m not sure how they would make that work,” he said. “I don’t know what would happen if it crashed.”

Amazon founder Jezz Bezos announced in a “60 Minutes” segment that his company has plans to deliver drones in the future.

Jordan expressed some skepticism. People would probably want to try to knock delivery drones out of the sky, he said, especially if they were carrying cash from a pizza delivery or if they’re were carrying valuables.

But he said he envisions the skies will be filled with drones when the prices of entry-level models drop down to $100.

One thing he doesn’t worry too much about is government regulation.

“I’ve heard they want to make people get licenses and take a training course,” he said.

As his drone took flight over a basketball court in a small park in Port Ewen, the rotors buzzed like the props of an old World War II fighter.

After a brief two-minute flight where Jordan was having a tough time controlling the drone. As it was buffeted by strong winds, it made a self-guided emergency landing with a low-battery warning light flashing.

“I don’t understand, I just charged the batteries,” he said.

Jordan said he wants to move his flights beyond Kingston, noting a recent trip up to the Kaaterskill Falls in Greene County. “They’re are just not that many scenic locations in Kingston,” he said. “I want to take it somewhere scenic and maybe even on a vacation.”